Thursday, January 31, 2013

Friday night we invited my oldest son's best friend for a sleepover. I LOVE sleepovers probably as much, if not more than, my kids (popcorn... gummy worms... and the latest Disney flick.) Actually, the boys make their pillow and blanket fortress upstairs and my husband and I get to enjoy some grown up TV down stairs well before the 8pm allotted time when the kids are in bed. This time I decided maybe Oreos would be a nice change up to gummy worms and when I found bags in the dollar section of Target, I was pretty excited. I saw on the package it was only 130 calories for 9 of these little goodies. I used to avoid Oreos like John Mayer avoids commitment. I bet if I tried really hard I could take down an entire big package of Oreo's like Hulk Hogan taking down Randy Savage. In such a little package I could stop at 9 right?!?!? Then I had this brilliant idea I could make these cup pop things I found on Pinterest with them! The pin is called Ice Cream Layered Pops, I am a little bit (really just a hair) of a health enthusiast and in my infinite healthy knowledge I know ice cream is at the bad end of the food pyramid or 'pie chart' (whoever thought of calling it that was a real genius.) I decided Greek yogurt is much better, right and it probably tastes the same, right!?!? So I made about six of these little babies and threw in some of the Oreos. Wow was I wrong! The boys took one bite and knew instantly that they had been fooled. This was not ice cream but in fact as my oldest called it "Oreo sour cream." The jig was up! They still ate them by the way and my husband and I finished ours as well. I had to make things right so I went to the store the next day and bought a carton of Dreyer's Slow Turned Frozen Yogurt Blends. I made about 8 and there was still some frozen yogurt left in the carton, I mixed half with peanut butter and half with caramel sauce and all with peanuts. First, I put the nuts then a quarter of a cup of ice cream, half a Tbsp of peanut butter or caramel then quarter cup of ice cream, stick in a popsicle stick and viola! FroYo layered pops! The peanut butter varietal is 165 calories and the caramel is 155 calories. Sometimes you feel like a nut and sometimes you don't, so if you don't then knock 25 calories off the total.
Till Next Blog,
T. Sadd

Quote of the Day- "You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him." Audrey Hepburn

Friday, January 25, 2013

A few months ago I pinned this pin that showed me how to make a 72 hour emergency food kit. I thought, we have water stored in the garage, a first aid kit, a hand crank radio and flashlights. Then I thought we don't have food! Well we have food in our pantry but enough for all 5 of us for three days? So I did what came natural and went to Pinterest, I came across this pin and added it to my Saddler Manor board. This particular pin lay dormant until the New Year when I had the epiphany to get organized, and I want to be as organized as possible when disaster strikes. I decided that this pin was a top priority. In the original pin it called for one gallon size container per person (like the ones that have crazy amounts of cheesey poofs in them). At first I thought to myself where am I going to find five gallon size containers for all of us; panic set in and in my mind the Saddler's weren't going to make it threw the zombie apocalypse because each of us did not have our own container. As I was mourning our poor little family I thought at least we will be together, together!!!! That was the answer, I would put it in one big bin! We are not in the boy scouts and did not each need our own, and to be honest my one and half year old really doesn't need a whole can of soup to himself. So this is what I put in the bin:

Day 3
Breakfast-Quaker perfect Portion Oat Meal (same package as above, and it will not kill you during the emergency to have oat meal twice!)
Snack
- Nature Valley Sweet and Salty Peanut bars $1.35 for five bars
Lunch
-Market Pantry Chicken Gumbo-$2.88 for 2 cans
Snack
-Trader Joe's fruit leathers $2.45 for 5
Dinner
-Box pasta and can of tomato sauce $1.99 and $.89
$2.25 per person

I also added a box of Nescafe instant coffee (.99 for 7) and Splenda packets (free at your local Starbucks) because the you-know-what will really hit the proverbial fan if I don't have my morning cup of joe. Lastly, our 18 quart box was on sale at Target for $4.99. I suggest you make one of these, you can never be too prepared for a natural disaster or an alien invasion but this is a start. Good luck and Godspeed if there is ever a zombie apocalypse.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Last night my brother in law popped in for dinner. Well it wasn't really a pop in, he told my husband he was coming and my husband forgot to tell me. Luckily for us I was making my popular home made chili. I make 2 meals worth so that we can save some for a later date, we make chili cheese fries or chili dogs with the portion I freeze; so we definitely had enough for everyone. Anyway back on point, I wasn't planning on doing dessert but since we had company I thought I better do something. I remember a couple months before I had pinned a recipe for frosting or filling that looked really simple and I had all the ingredients. So I pulled out my iPad and searched threw my Delisioso board and found it, cream for all occasions. All you need is a box of cheese cake pudding, half the milk called for on the box and half a package of Cool Whip. I whipped this right up and mixed in 2 apples and a banana and sprinkled some cinnamon in (it is the winter after all I had to add some kind of winter flare). My two older boys liked it so much they fought over the last spoonful which we had to divvy up between the two of them. The total cost was $4.15 or .69 cents per serving and it is 130 calories for a sixths of the total recipe. This would also be great as a fruit dip or with strawberries in the summer months.
Till next Pin!
T.Sadd

Quote of the day:
"In love, one must show affection often, appreciation always."
~Holly Bennington

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Yes I am talking about those cute little hair ties that rocked the scene in the early to mid 90's. I have a sister who is very much into fashion, she is always the first to wear what ever Jennifer Aniston is wearing weeks before the paparazzi snap a picture of it. My beautiful sister who shall remain nameless, let just call her "R" was donning one of these magnificent hair pieces when I asked her, politely as I could without laughing, if 1994 had called asking for it's scunchy back. She replied that they are super comfy and didn't break or dent her hair like the other hair ties did. I then told her that I felt the same way about my palazzo (or gaucho) pants but you didn't see me roaming the town in my highly under rated last year pants. I decided then and there I was going to find her a more acceptable way to wear her hair. Of course where did I turn but my trusty side kick and endless pool of creative knowledge, Pinterest. That is when I found this pin easy hair ties. So simple, cheap and so not 1992! You can find this in in my Doin' it Myself board. You only need about 7 minutes, $4, scissors and a lighter. I used the Fashion A La Carte Elastic bands that you can find in an assortment of colors at Michael's and it just so happens they had my favorite color, lavender, in stock. I used one package and it made 8 hair ties. I did this project a months ago and can't remember exactly how much I paid but I don't believe it was more than $4. That is about .50 cents per hair tie, a little more than what you would pay say at Target for a package of hair ties, however I am still wearing the first one I made! It has far outlasted any of the store bought hair ties by far. I would go threw about a hair tie a week before it broke or stretched out to a point that just didn't feel right. The only draw back I have found is when I run my hair tends to slip threw it, so I still use my old hair ties to hold my ponytail when I run. Other than that these are a 10, I think my hair is even a little healthier since it doesn't break my hair when I pull it out at the end of the day.
Till next Pin!
T.Sadd

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Last night I made the "slow cooker buffalo chicken" from my Delicioso board. I pinned this from Emilybites.com. If you don't follow her on pinterest I highly recommend that you do, her recipes are amazing! I have tried 3 or 4 and my family and I have loved them all. This recipe is super simple and delicious but not for the faint of heart or for pregnant women unless you are 9 month along and ready to meet your Mini Me. It is spicy! My husband and I love spicy, we love to cover everything from mac and cheese to scrambled eggs in Tapatio or Frank's Red Hot Sauce and this recipe left us both reaching for a tall glass of milk and tissue for our eyes. I am not sure if cooking the sauce slowly in the Crock pot all day brings out the full boldness of flavor but it was spicy even for us. In my recipe I omitted the ranch dressing (not huge ranch eaters in my house) and instead used 4oz of light cream cheese. I used 2 frozen chicken breasts and half a bottle of Frank's Buffalo Wing Sauce along with the cream cheese and served it on mini french rolls. It made 6 small slider style sandwiches. It was so good my husband and I were eating threw our tears. Each slider has a little over 200 calories, 14.2 grams of protein, 21 grams of carbs and 6.5 grams of fat. Total cost $1.65 per slider, not too shabby if you compare it to what the other place in town charges, but then again you do get a view at the other place. I live with 4 boys so they might find it worth the extra money to head there for some buffalo chicken!

Fun Fact- Frank's Red Hot Sauce was used in the original recipe for the buffalo sauce used to make the first buffalo wings at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York almost 50 years ago! The other ingredients are a guarded family secret!

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

I made these delectable little goodies yesterday for New Years breakfast and they were a huge hit with my 3 boys (and myself of course). The recipe is super simple, it was really cheap and delicious! With only 7 ingredients and less than 5 minutes to make and 8-10 to bake this is definitely a 10! I used light cream cheese (Neufchatel) and Splenda (you could also use Stevia) and mine came out to be just under 150 calories, much less than what you would get from a store bought pastry. It was about $3.00 for all ingredients which is about .38 cents per serving. I really enjoyed these and I think you will too! Here is the pin from my Delicioso board Strawberries n Cream.

Fun Fact- Cream cheese was first referenced in England in the late 1500's, talk about the Age of Discovery! Bagel lovers will forever be grateful!

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

I would like to start off by saying Happy New Year! The reason I started this blog was because I decided in 2013 I would get organized. So like any smart person I decided to start with my pinterest. As I was going threw trying to find all my organization pins, I realized I was deleting a whole bunch of pins that I tried and were either epic fails or too complicated for someone who is not on the Martha Stewart level (yet). Then I found myself clicking on pins that were awesome, I am one of those annoying people that wants to share everything I have learned whether you want to hear it or not. I must drive my family crazy! I have tried so many recipes that my family has had to endure and God bless my husband's poor stomach and heart for bearing with me threw it all! I am going to take this blog and tell you about all the pins I have tried and LOVE. I won't be sharing my fails(although that probably would be pretty funny). I am not here to hurt any one's feelings or put any one's ideas down since I may not have the same taste or skill level for some of the projects on pinerest. To each his own, who am I to say that backed kale cauliflower pizza with soy cheese isn't delicious to someone, right! I have already begun so look for my next blog! As they say on Pinterest:
Happy Pinning!
T.Sadd